Pressure-turbine.



E. BUEHLE.

PRESSURE TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6.1914.

Patented May 4, 1915.

3 SHEETSSHEET I E. BUEHLE.

PRESSURE TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5,1914.

Patented May 4, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

E. BUliHLE. PRESSURE TURBINE.

APPLICATION FILED IUNEG, l9l 4.

Pat ented May 4, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

STATES PATENT OF EBICH mania, or NEW YORK, 11. Y., ASSIGNOB TO THE PELTON WATER W'HEEL 00., me, or SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, n CORPORATION or CALIFORNIA.

PRESSURE-TURBINE.

Application filed June 6, 1914. Serial No. 843,507. I 7 V V To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Enron BUEHLE, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at New York, county of New York,

p State of New York, have invented certain One of the objects of the invention is to v provide a running joint between the runner and casing in which no packing is used and .In cooperation with whlchan annular chamher is provided for the purpose of receiving the leakage through the joint, means-being also'provided for rapidly conveying this leaka e away from the chamber. 7

' A urther object is to provide means for' reducing the pressure on the top. of the runner of a horizontal turbine so as-to relieve the thrust bearing of a certain amount of load which it would otherwise have.

'A. further object is to provide the upperwall of a horizontal runner with openings which causethe-runner to act as a ump to space above the runner in excess of the vacuum in the draft tube.

voir aroundthe vertical shaft of a horizon- A tal turbine which rec'eives the oil'fro'm the 'A further object is to provide the turbine casing with hollow 1de vanes. through which water which leaks' through. the joint between the runner and the casing 'maf-be i I upstanding peripheral-flange Wh1Ch 's arranged between the upper plate and :a depending flange 28-01; the casing, the-plate conductedto the.draft-tflbe. '7

A further object is to provide rpeanswhereby the suctidn-inthe draft tube is utilized for withdrawing the-leakage water frpm,

Specification of Letters latent.

is'provided with the usual vanes 18..; .Ar-

withdraw water from the upper 'si e of the" runner andalso produce avacuum in the A further object is-to provide an bil reser Patented May 4, 1915.

above the joint between the runner andrthe casing. V

Other objects and the features of novelty will appear in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which, I

-. Figure l is a vertical section through a hydraulic turbine embodying my invention, the turbine being shown as directconnected to an electric enerator; F ig.- 2 is an en larged section similar to Fig. 1, but showing only a portion of the;apparatus; Fig. 3 is 65 a vertical section of a modified form of cer tai'n parts shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a. vertical section. through the openings ,in the upper wall of the runner; and Fig 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2'.

Referring to the drawings, ;10 indicates the usual foundation which supports'theapaf paratus. The draft tube 11 is arranged in the foundation 10 and has connected there-- with the supply casing or/scroll-12 on which. is secured a housing 13 which, supports, a part-of the electric generator 14;... A. yer-, tical shaft 16 carries at its lower end-a. runner 17 which is arqanged in the scroll;12 and ra'ng'ed within the scroll "12 and, if preferred; formed integral therewith are the; wearing. rings or .plates' l-Q between. which are the; usual wicket gates 20; The upper andflowen walls of the casing or'scroll 12 are connected size of the-"apparatus permitsthese-vanesa;- have openings-22 extending therethrough for a purpose to be hereinafter-described.As:

The runner ,17-has its peripheral portions; arranged to cooperate with the wearing-j; plates 19 to form running joints 23 and-24.

The vertical wall 25 of the runner which connects the lower ends of thevanes thereof T is spaced from the wall 0fthe casing 'tbj9'5 provide a channel 26- which communicatesq; at its lower. end with 'ythe-Qinterior of their draft tube 11; The-joint 223 communicates 5 with the channel 26 and therefore 'any'leakageof the pressure water through the, jQint -QIOO i 23 will be conveyed'tovthe draft,tube"by-.jtli ejchannel 26. The runneris' provided with an by the usual guide vanes 21'a-nd 'where' the 28 cooperating with the inner surface of the flange 27 to form the joint 29. The casing comprises a cover plate 30 having an annular chamber 31 in the 10 er side thereof and in communication with the upper ends of the joints 24 and 29. One or more passages 32 are formed in the plate 30 for conveying water which escapes into a the chamber 31 to the passages 22 through'the guide vanes 21. From the lower end of the passages 22 the water is conveyed through pipes 33 to the draft tube 11.

In-the normal operation of the apparatus iizhere is a partial vacuum in the draft tube 1 the passages 32 and the chamber 31, this suction drawing thevwater from the joint 24 through the passages into the draft tube. Under all ordinary conditions of operation this suction is sufficient to carry off all leakage through the joint 24, ,but under certain abnormal conditions of operation an excess and therefore there is constant suction in I of water may accumulate in the chamber 31 and pass through the joint 29 into the chamber on the upper side 'of the runner 17. The action of the water inpassing through the runner together with the weight of the'runner, the shaft and the rotating part of the electric generator produces a very great vertical thrust on the shaft and this thrust must be taken up by the usual thrust bearing. It is obvious that if water were allowed to accumulate on the upper side of the runner and thus exert downward pressure thereon thi would increase the load on the thrust bearing and also lower the efficiency of the the oil reservoir 36.

the inner wall -39 of which makes a running joint with the shaft 16., The hub 40 of the runner 17 makes a running joint 41 with the lowerwall'of the reservoir 36.

The shaft 16 has a bearing 42 in a member 43 which. is mounted on the plate 30. Oil from the bearing 42 descends along the shaft and is discharged into the reservoir 36 by means of a deflecting flange 44 which is carried by the shaft. The chamber 38 has a cover 45 which receives the oil from the deflecting flange 44 and conveys it to the reservoir 36, this cover also preventing oil from entering the chamber 3 It sometimes occurs in the operation of apparatus of this character that abnormal fluctuations in the load on a generator would cause the upper side of the runner to be flooded with water and this Water would be forced upwardly through the joint 40 and also the joint between the shaft 16 and the wall 39 of the'chamber 38. It will be seen from the drawings that if the water were .allowed to continue its upward movement to the oil deflecting means 44 it would get into In order to prevent this, I have provided on the shaft 16 a deflector 46 below the deflector 44. The deflector 46 operates to turn any water which is thrownagainst it back into the chamber 38 whence it escapes through the passage 47. I I The arr angement of the' deflectors 44 and 46 is such that oil is prevented from getting into the chamber 38 and water is prevented from getting into-the reservoir 36, so that these two fluids are always kept separate.

The bearings for the shaft 16 are prefer- I apparatus. It is therefore desirable to provide means for preventing the accumulation of water on the runner, as far as possible, and also to have a vacuum on the upper side of the runner which will relieve the thrust bearing of a certain amount of its load and in this way improve the efficiency of the appaably supplied with oil by means of a pump 48 which is directly driven from the shaft 16 by means ofthe gears 49, these gears also i driving a shaft 50 which actuates'the governing' i'nechanism 51, the-latter forming no. @part-ofthe present invention and ratus. 'The suction in the draft tube acts through the passages 22, 32 and the joint 29 to produce a vacuum in the chamber 34 above the runner, but in order to furtherincrease the vacuum on the upper side of the runner and to make it exceed that in the draft tube I have provided a series of-openings 35 in the upper wall of the-runner, these openings being inclined upwardly in the direction of rotation of the runner, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. With the openings 35 thus arranged, the upper wall of the runner serves as an impeller towithdraw water and 'airfrom the chamber 34 and thusreduce pressure in this chamber to a point openings 35 discharge.

The. central part of the cover 30 is so formed as to provide a reservoir 36 for oil and Within the inner wall 37 of this reservoir there is formed an annular chamber 38,

below that in the'draft tube into which the a description thereof being unessential. Oil may be supplied to the bearing 42 and the gears 49 in any suitable manner, as by means of the pipes 52 and 53, respectively.

The wicket gates 20 are arranged on shafts or ivots 54 having arms 55 at their upper en s, these'arms being operatively connected with an oscillatable ring 56;;which is mounted on a bearing'57 onthe" plate 30. This plate-jis also provided with a' 'shoulder v58 which supports the ring? Themember43 which" is secured on the upper endof the m late' 30 bases laterallyprojecting flange 59' which overlies a'portionof the ring 56 and v cooperates with the shoulder 58 to hold the "1 ring-in position." This manner of'mounting the ring 56 isobviously very simple inconstruction and permits the partsto be" readily disassembled because when the jmembei" 43 is removed the l ring may belifte d from the plate 30. In order tocontrol the position of: all of the gates 20.Jsini'ultaneously the ringftiiiis oscillated by meansof any suitable mechanism which may be connected with the by means of a pin 60. the drawings the running and stationa'ry parts of theapparatus are shown much farther apart at the running joints than they would be in practice, and this has been because to show the spaces in the joints in the. exact proportion to the other parts g would make the spaces so small as to obscure the arrangement. 7 In Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of the invention in which the shaft 16 is provided with a'flange 61 at the lower end 13 thereof to which the runner 17 is secured. i The plate is provided with the oil reser- ..'voir-36, as in the form hereinbefore described, butthe lower wall 62 of the reservoir makes a running joint with the periphery of the flange 61. There is provided within the reservoir 36 a water chamber 38, the inner wallof which is provided with an annular recess 63 and coiiperates with the shaft 16 to form a running joint. The recess 63 has connected therewith a pipe 64 which is in turn connected with a suit; able suction pipe for withdrawing water from the recess 63. The pipe 64 is preferably connected with the draft tube so that the water is withdrawn from the recess 63 and discharged into the draft tube.

Arranged on the shaft 16 is a deflector 65 which throws oil into the chamber 36 and has its lower end 66 cupped out to form a 36 deflector for water which is forced upwardly along the shaft above the recess 63. The cupped end 66 of the deflector 65 throws the water back into the chamber 38 from which it escapes by means of the passage 67.

Referring to Fig. v1, it will be seen that "there is indicated indotted lines the pipe 68 extending from the passage 32 to the con nection of the pipe'33 with the draft tube 11. When the size of the apparatus is such that 46 it is impracticable to provide hollowvanes 22 a pipelorpipes 68. may be provided to convey the water from the chamber 31 to thedraft tube.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and. desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: r

1. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a runner, a casing inclosing the runner and forming with the back of 8b the runner a plurality of annular chambers, said casing having a running joint with the periphery of the runner communicating With-, QIIG of said chambers, and suction mamcommunicating with both of said 60 chambers.

J 2.. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination of a runner, a 'casinginclosing the runner and forming with the back of the runner a plurality of annular chambers;

? said casing having a running jdint w ithth';

the combination of a vertical shaft, a runner "mounted on said shaft, a casing inclosing periphery of the runner communicating with one of said chambers, a draft tube adapted to receive the Water discharged from said runner, and means for establishing communication between said draft tube and both of said chambers.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a runner, a casing inclosing the runner and having spaced parts coiiperating respectively with the opposite sides of a peripheral flange on said runner and forming running joints therewith, said casing having an annular chamber communicating directly with both of said joints, and suction means communicating with said chamber.

4. In apparatus of the class described, thecombination of a runner having a vertical axis and an upstanding peripheral flange,.a casing inclosing said runner and having parts cooperating with the inner and outer sides of said flange to form running joints therewith, said casing forming with the runner two annular chambers separated the inner of said parts which coiiperates with l the inner .side of said flange, a draft tube,

Sn. conduit establishing communication-becombination of a runner having a'vertical axis and an upstanding peripheral flange, a casing inclosing said runner and having v parts coiiperating with the inner and outer sides of said flange to form running joints therewith, saidcasingforming with the runner two concentric annular chambers, the outer of which communicates with both of said-joints and the inner ofwhich communicates only with the inner of said joints, and suction means communicating with. both of said chambersand adapted to withdraw water therefrom.

6. In apparatus of the class de cribed, the combination of a vertical shaf a runner mounted on said shaft, a casing inclosing said runner and provided with an oil reservoir above the runner and surrounding said shaft, said casing also having an annu I lar water chamber within said oil reservoir, 4 the inne pwall of said chamber coiiperating 1 with said. shaft to form avrunning joint? therewith, and means carried by'the shaft for receiving water, forced upwardly through said joint, and deflecting the. Water into said chamber whereby the WaterispreQ vented from getting into said reservoinp 7. In apparatus of the class described said'runner and provided with a bearing for i said shaft above the runner and an oil res-' ervoir surrounding said shaft above the runner and below said bearing, deflecting means carried by the shaft below said bearing and adapted to discharge oil, flowing downwardly along said shaft, into said reservoir, said casing also being provided with a chamber surrounding said shaft within said reservoir, the inner wall of said chamber having a running joint with said shaft, and means above said joint and below said deflecting means for deflecting water, which is forced upwardly along'said shaft, into said chamber and thereby preventing the water from getting into said reservoir.

8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a vertical shaft, a runner mounted on the lowerend of saidshaft, a casing inclosing said runner and having a bearing for said shaft and an oil reservoir arranged above the runner and below said bearing, deflecting means carried by the shaft below said bearing and adapted to discharge oil, flowing downwardly along said shaft, into said reservoir, said casing being also provided with a chamber within said reservoir and below said deflecting means to receive water, which is forced upwardly along said shaft, and separate means for withdrawing the water from said chamber and the oil from said reservoir.

9. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination'of a runner having a vertical axis, a casing inclosing said runner and hav ing a chamber above the runner, a draft tube below the runner and the upper wall of the runner having openings formed therein inclined upwardly in the direction of rotation of the runner whereby the upper wall of the runner is adapted to act as a pump to withdraw water from the upper side of the runner and produce a vacuum in said chamber which is greater than the vacuum in the draft tube.

10. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a vertical shaft, a runner mounted thereon, a horizontally arranged casing for the runner provided with a chamber on the upper side of the runner, the upper wall of the runner having openings therein inclined upwardly in the direction of rotation of the runner, as and for the purpose described.

11. Ir apparatus o theclass described, the combination of a runner, a casing for the runner and having a part cooperating with the periphery of the runner to form a running joint therebetween, said casing also having an annular chamber above said joint and in communication therewith, hollow strengthening ribs extending across said casing and conduits connecting said chamber with said ribs to convey the water, which leaks through said joint, through said ribs.

12. In apparatus of the class described,

the combination of a vertical shaft, a runnersecured to said shaft, a casing inclosing said runner and having an oil reservoir surrounding the shaft above the runner, said casing being also provided with a plurality of coaxial chambers surrounding the shaft Within said reservoir, and drainage means connected with said chambers and adapted to withdraw water therefrom.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ERICH BUEHLE.

Witnesses:

ALFRED E. SMITH, GODFREY S. THILLY. 

